The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran
No. 698
Downfall
Sanction – Economy - Crack within regime
Sept. 6, 2010
Tehran: On Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 there were ridiculous scenes of a so-called show of power near the Friday Prayers by Bassij forces. It was supposedly a karate and Kong foo show on the street and all the people passing by made fun of the Bassiji forces. The two attached videos show this ridiculous show of Bassijis which was played out as Ahmadinejad was giving a speech.
In one of the scenes of this ‘play’ the Bassijis set something on fire on the street which led to protests from young people and even to anti-government slogans. The Bassij force quickly put out the fire to prevent further protests and gatherings.
'Quds Day' in Isfahan
Sept. 6, 2010
Report from Isfahan on Friday Sept. 3, 2010 – According to a report given by a witness in Isfahan, the crowds in Isfahan for 'Quds Day' were very small. Only about 150 people were walking in each line. The state-run TV was saying that millions were out on the street but I only saw that barely 200 to 300 people were out in Isfahan. They had brought maybe 100 people from other towns because of the small turnout in this city.
Iranian regime's FM spokesman admits pain of sanctions
Sept. 6, 2010
The Iranian regime’s foreign ministry spokesman admitted to the painful impacts of international sanctions on the clerical regime, saying, “So, if we retreat, there would be nothing left for us.”
According to the state-run Fars news agency on Sunday, Ramin Mehmanparast, whose remarks were broadcast on state-run TV, said, “We do not welcome any sanctions or [punitive] resolutions. We don’t want to move towards resolutions. But, at the same time, we are not prepared to back away from our rights under pressure.”
The comments ran counter to what the mullahs’ President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had previously stated on a number of occasions to the effect that the regime “embraces sanctions.” He had added that sanctions actually benefit the Iranian regime.
Mehmanparast also unveiled the creation of “the special headquarters at the Foreign Ministry to confront sanctions.” He referred to some of the impacts, saying, “For example, there are chemical products that are used for peaceful purposes 96% of the time. They could only have a 4% chance of being used for military purposes. But, as soon as a merchant starts to be active in this field, he is told that you are importing these products for military purposes in Iran. Even cement and iron rods count as being sensitive products. They say that these products may be used for building military fortifications.”
The regime has been powerless against universities for the past 32 years, official says
Sept. 7, 2010
A member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (Parliament) has said that the clerical regime has not been able to dominate universities during the past 32 years after the 1979 revolution, the state-run Tabnak reported on Monday.
In reaction to the regime’s Minister of Science who had said that universities opposed to the regime would have to be destroyed, the Majlis deputy, Abdoljabar Karami, said regime officials should avoid making such statements, adding, “Instead of demolishing universities, we have to look back to our own wrong doings and see why in the past 32 years we have not been able to influence students.”
In statements targeting Kamran Daneshjou, the mullahs’ Science Minister, Karami said that measures that could “incite chaos in universities” and “harm the regime” must be avoided.
Dire condition of laborers in Iran
Sept. 7, 2010
Qom: according to a worker in the Qom Derakhshan Factory, last month 20 workers were laid off work because the low purchases of fabric.
Workers in this factory have 3 month contracts and the head of the factory can fire them whenever the factory goes into a critical state. None of the workers have job security and can be fired any day.
Tehran: about 400 workers of the Kian Tire Factory who had not received their wages for four months did not receive their wages in the month of Mordad (July 23 to august 22) and these workers are still in an undetermined state. There is a tense atmosphere among the workers in this factory.
In this regard, the factory Protection Department and the head of the factory have told workers that they should not talk about the condition of this factory with anyone and if someone wants to know about the worker’s situation, they should come to us.
All factories are gradually closing
Sept. 7, 2010
Tehran: the head of a Western Tehran Taxi agency said that 300 liters of fuel only last for 10 to 15 days when you consider car maintenance and the agency commission and 400 liters of fuel, nothing is left for the driver. And this is in conditions where taxi drivers even in northern Tehran are from the impoverished south of Tehran who all live in rented homes and have loans and have to pay the expenses of their children and they cannot make a living under these circumstances.
Sanctions and nuclear bomb
Sept. 7, 2010
Amol: It has been a month now that cylinder gas has become scarce in the town of Amol. This shortage has led to serious problems for the people in this town.
Tehran: A taxi driver in a Taxi agency in West Tehran has said that one of their problems is that an agency that has 300 to 400 calls a day only has two cars. Drivers practically make no money and have to use their money for their car maintenance which needs a lot of care as a result of overuse. This taxi driver also said that because of high prices, inflation and the price of his children’s education including text books and other facilities, they have problem sending their children to school.
Resistance
Political prisoners in Iran commemorate anniversary of 1988 massacre
Sept. 7, 2010
On the 22nd anniversary of the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 at the hands of the Iranian regime, political prisoners at Evin Prison commemorated the memories of the victims by holding a special ceremony on Friday.
The ceremony was called “A Night with Khavaran,” referring to Khavaran cemetery where some of the victims are buried in mass graves. More than 30,000 dissidents, a majority of whom were supporters of the main opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), were executed in groups in the summer of 1988 by the clerical regime.
Political prisoners at Ward 350 recited poems and sang resistance anthems. Some of those who survived the massacre also recounted past stories and honored the memory of the slain.
According to a report obtained from Ward 350, the prisoners condemned the 1988 killings, describing it as a humanitarian and national catastrophe. They also denounced the issuing of heavy sentences against the massacre’s current survivors who are still imprisoned as well as against other political prisoners and said these death sentences are the continuation of the crimes committed by the regime in the 1980s.
Suppression
Suppression in Ramadan
Sept. 7, 2010
Tehran: Security forces are showing their true identity in the month of Ramadan by dealing harshly with those who eat in public. Even drivers in cars are not spared for smoking. Security forces stop cars with passengers who eat in public and after checking their documents send their cases to judicial sources.
A 70 Year old man sentenced to two years of prison
Sept. 7, 2010
Tehran: according to reports, after months of being kept in an undetermined state in Evin Prison, the trial for political prisoner Omid-Ali Mehrnia, a 70 year old retired teacher and PMOI supporter whose children live in Ashraf City (in Iraq where the members of PMOI live) was held on Tuesday August 31. He was sentenced to two years of prison on charges of propagating against the government and acting against national security.
The judge did not allow his family inside the court and only a few minutes before the court session ended and after the sentence was announced, his relatives were allowed inside.
Situation of Prisons in Iran
Sept. 7, 2010
Tehran: according to the judge in a Tehran court, most prisons have been filled to their maximum capacity and Evin Prison does not accept most prisoners who have been sentenced to prison by courts.
For example when a convict is sent to prison, they are sent back in many instances and prison officials say that they should either be released until their final sentence or they should be detained in Intelligence and Security Detention Centers. This is while intelligence detention centers are very small and have a limited capacity.
Three students sentenced to prison; student activist beaten in Vakil Abad Prison
Sep. 6, 2010
Three students of the Firdosi University in Mashhad by the names of Mehdi Khosravi, Amin Riahi and Hamid-Reza Amirkhani were sentenced to one year of prison which has been suspended for five years.
This is while Amir Riahi, the editor of the Mohavereh student publication, was severely beaten in Vakil Abad Prison. Eyewitnesses said that the reason he was beaten was for protesting to a soldier in prison…
Riahi disclosed the name of the person who beat him and said, “A soldier named Reza Bayat who was responsible for fingerprinting took me to another room and then started violently beating me for about 10 minutes. In the two or three hours that I was kept in that hall I saw at least four more beatings and two of them were carried out by Mr. Bayat”.
“After that when I was being released from prison, another soldier separated me and another political prisoner and asked us a few questions. I really did not have the ability to answer but the person next to me who decisively answered the questions was beaten and unfortunately he did not have a name tag and I do not know his name”.
These students wrote for their student publication in Mashhad’s Firdosi University and were sentenced to one year of prison on charges of propagating against the government. They were also sentenced to four semesters of suspension in 2008 for their activities in this publication.
Sunni prisoners insulted and beaten in Gohardasht Prison
Sep. 6, 2010
According to reports from Iran, cellblock 2 known as the Dar al-Quran in Gohardasht Prison is very tense after prison agents insulted Sunni prisoners. These prisoners who are mostly Kurd political and non-political prisoners protested the insults which were being broadcasted from the cellblock loudspeakers.
Prison officials Kermani and Faraji and other prison guards threatened the Sunni protesters that if they do not end their protests, prison guards will beat them and transfer them to solitary cells…
On Sunday September 5, when they see that the protests of political and non-political Sunni prisoners were ongoing, Karami, Faraji the head and assistant head of the Prison Intelligence Unit and prison guards attacked a Sunni prisoner identified as Ata-ollah Azizi and beat him, subsequently taking him to cellblock 6 in this prison.
The Prison Intelligence Unit instigates and encourages other prisoners to clash with Sunni prisoners and there is a high chance of widespread religious clashes in this cellblock.
Officially organized instigated clashes in Gohardasht Prison leaves many prisoners severely injured
Sep. 7, 2010
According to reports from Iran, on Monday September 6, at least seven prisoners were severely injured after bloody clashes in cellblock 1 in Gohardasht Prison. Four of these prisoners were taken to hospitals outside of prison because of the severity of their injuries and are in critical condition.
One of the prisoners identified as Javad Zare was struck on the head with a sword and his eye was scooped out in the prison infirmary. Another prisoner who had a deep wound on his head was taken to a hospital outside of prison.
The clashes in these cellblocks are carried out with the instigation and encouragement of the Prison Intelligence Unit and those who participate in these clashes and attack prisoners are intelligence elements in prison and are also used in distributing drugs and suppressing prisoners.
When a clash starts in a cellblock, prison guards close the cellblock doors and let the gangs attack their victims. These attacks are carried out with the intention of fatally wounding or severely injuring the victims. Prison guards only intervene after the clashes end and start evacuating the wounded prisoners. In most cases the attackers are not held accountable and continue their crimes in the cellblocks.
The organizers of these clashes in various prison cells are Kermani and Faraji, the head and assistant head of the Intelligence Unit in this prison.
Suppression in Iran
Families of detained Christians threatened in Mashhad
Sep. 7, 2010
The Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad has threatened the families of detained Christians and has told them that if the jailed Christians do not turn back to Islam, they will be charged with apostasy.
According to reports, three of these converted Christians identified as Reza (Stephan), his wife Maria and Ehsan Behrouz were arrested on July 8, 2010 on charges of converting to Christianity. Branch 901 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad asked the families of these three Christians on August 29 to participate in their trial.
According to reports from a source close to this case, in the above mentioned session, court and security officials told these families that despite 50 days of attempts by guidance agents to convert these prisoners back to Islam, these people have still not given a positive answer and are not willing to leave their Christian beliefs…
Judicial and security officials in Mashhad have also said that if their families are not able to force them back to Islam, they will charge them with apostasy and they will be tried on these charges.
The official meaning of apostasy in Iran is execution.
Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iran-Students-Committee/222864894745?ref=ts
Iranstudentscommittee.blospot.com
Facebook Profile: Sarzamin Pak
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